In 1973, Jimmy Neil Smith, a high school journalism teacher, and a carload of students heard Grand Ole Opry regular Jerry Clower spin a tale over the radio about coon hunting in Mississippi.
[3] Today, the ISC promotes the power of storytelling and the creative applications of this ancient tradition to enrich the human experience in the home, at the workplace, and throughout the world.
In existence for almost 50 years, the Festival attracts nearly 11,000 audience members annually, including school groups whose students attend as an educational experience.
Past storytellers include Pete Seeger, Carmen Agra Deedy, Jay O'Callahan, Donald Davis, Syd Lieberman, Andy Offutt Irwin, Sheila Kay Adams, and Kathryn Tucker Windham.
The festival influenced the development of a storytelling graduate degree program[5] at the nearby East Tennessee State University.